Children’s rights council, Olinda

The Child and Adolescent Statute (or ECA, passed in 1990) mandated that all cities create various councils to protect children and to enforce the law. Tutelary Councils defend individual children, and Children’s Rights Councils develop city policy on children and adolescents. The Council is a committee composed of members of civil society and of the state -- civil society representatives are elected from the NGO community.

Unfortunately, many cities have delayed the implementation of the ECA, knowing that the Councils will reduce the power of the government. The city of Olinda (just north of Recife, in the state of Pernambuco) is one of the real success stories.

The most important work of the Council is “participatory budgeting,” where the city must direct some of its budget directly to NGOs through the Council. Any citizen can come to the meeting, speak, and vote on the distribution of these funds. All accounts are open documents, so individuals may also audit funding decisions. Unfortunately, corrupt governments have been able to use this money to support pet projects, but when civil society takes part, participatory budgeting can be one of the most important tools of Brasil’s participatory democracy.

Olinda is a special case, because UNESCO declared it “Cultural Patrimony of Humanity” because of its colonial architecture. Because of tourism, the government tends to give more money for projects in downtown, while the Council pressures for money to be spent in the shantytowns.

The Council also networks among the NGOs that work with children in the city. In 2002, there were some 165 of these NGOs (in a city of less than a million people!), and the Council visits each of these to recommend improvements in services.


Conselho de Dereitos, Olinda
Centro da Moda
Avenida Presidente Kennedy 1001
Olinda, PE 53010 230
Brasil

81 3305 1054
fax 3305 1053

Contacto: Adriana França, comdaco@hotmail.com